Happy Friday, everyone!
Here is this week's poll question:
Who are your three most loyal advertisers, the ones who have stayed with you through thick and through thin -- and why are they so loyal?
Looking forward to reading your replies!
Local auto dealer, local 3-location fast food franchisee, regional bank.
1. They believe I am vested in their success - I am - and will not waste their time and money on promotions or presentations that don't fit
2. I sell ideas - not spots (spots are on dogs...)
3. I make it as easy as possible - I write the scripts for them to edit, round up testimonials and record them, send them the production for approval and make any changes they want at that time, pick up a banner or flyers for them, send production to other radio stations... I try to set it up so all they have to do is commit to the sale and then the rest comes to them.
4. I help them network - so many small businesses, especially now, do not hire in extra people so the owners/decision-makers are busy. They work. They go home. Do. Repeat. In small market, owners do not have the opportunity to regularly visit, read up on nor follow what competitors and other business categories in and out of the market are doing. I suggest and give contact info for co-promotions with other local businesses, research and share the least expensive resources for printing, banner-making, premiums, et al. Lately I have discussed with many costing - my daughter recently graduated from the Culinary Institute and has helped me to help clients figure out what some services/products (not always food) actually cost them to produce/sell. This comes up when they mention they have cut overhead as much as they think they can but still feel a bleed.
About a year ago, I left one job for another. Which clients were the most upset to see me go? (I’m going to call that loyalty … and it sure is flattering.) Long-term people who felt I was on their side.
Invest your prospecting time in people who understand that good marketing is a year round commitment. Do your best to educate them in that direction. Then develop convincing messages. After all, customers don’t come to a store just because the owner bought advertising. Radio isn’t magic. Customers respond to what the store SAID IN THOSE ADS. Good copy is golden.
Want another way to create loyalty in a client? Listen to them. It’s so simple. Yet a lot of salespeople think it’s a monolog all about them. When the client believes you want them to succeed, not just a fast buck, that’s when they’ll trust you.
A final point: Diane is right. Make it easy for them. Their job is to run the business. You want them to trust the advertising in your hands. Don't let them down.
Jewelry Store. He likes my ideas and customer service
Car Wash. I could say the same thing...but I think this is just a nice guy who wants to advertise locally.
Banks and funeral homes: They need the theatre of the mind that radio provides so they can connect to their customers and I try and give them great service so I keep them year in and year out.
Community College...I think they love the repetition radio affords.
Let's talk about most volitile:
Car dealers.
Restaurants.
Convenience stores.
Race track.
Local plumbing company, local furniture store, regional bank
1. I write the most awesome commercials ever. The one I'm writing right now starts out, "Gold is not cheese" as the first line. Weird, but that's how I roll.
2. I don't give free ads...ever. Unless they're make-goods for our or my mistake, I never devalue my product. As much as I value theirs, they should value mine. Giveaways are for saps who can't sell.
3. I tell my clients when they're wrong and when they're right. Not just to make a sale or upsell...but putting "conveniently located" and "been in business for XXX-years" and "for all your (blank) needs" in your commercials is wrong.
The "thick and thin" qualification suggests long-standing relationships (vs. new clients). Mine would include:
1) the auto body repair/paint and towing shop that hasn't changed their copy in a dozen years
2) an appliance/television/mattress dealer who puts 95% of his ad budget into radio* and voices his own ads (as does his business partner, on occasion). His April Fool's Day advertising campaign is a thing of beauty.
3) an optometrist whose commercials don't sound like "ads" - but instead position him as the local expert in his field. He's been doing daily advertising for over a decade, changing his copy every 3 weeks or so. I've attached the current spot below.
I believe the main reason they are loyal is because their advertising gets results. It's a wonderful thing for a client to be loyal to a rep who provides good service and has the client's best interests at heart. But it isn't just personal; it's business. The ad campaign has to pull its weight for the relationship to endure.
*I happened to run into the former owner of the appliance store, Howard Hughes, who drops in periodically to see how his young protégés (my clients) are doing. He related to me, making no effort to conceal his regret, that he had a bunch of large 3-ring binders in which he'd kept all the newspaper ads he'd ever done, and how it made him sick to think of all the money he wasted in print. He's seen the growth the current owners have enjoyed over the last decade, putting their money into radio, and wishes he'd done that when he still owned the store, instead of doing the same old weekend price promotions in print. If I ever get the chance to record an interview with him, I'll post it here. It's a poignant story.
Advantage is one of many programs wherein a 'media expert' from outside the market is brought in to do a series of identical 45-50 power point presentations for small groups of your current and/or potential clients in your market. The presentation is a sort of marketing 101, a compilation of ideas from marketing authors and gurus like Roy Williams that is formatted into a 1-2-3 to help your business. Clients - even those who have read or heard some of the materials before - find it helpful, informative and, coming from someone outside the market, very credible. An annual contract is then offered to those attending - the rates are a 1x discount available only during the time the presenter is in the market doing the presentations. This contract is worked out ahead of time between you and the presenter and normally includes discounted rates, multistation discounts, pay-by-credit card discounts, etc. The program will charge an upfront fee for expenses and direct mail marketing. They deduct your expenses for hosting the seminar (meeting room, coffee/cookies/donuts, etc.) from the gross sale of contracts closed and then earn 15% each month for the 12 months of the contract.They do not deduct the radio airtime you run to promote attendance.
We used Advantage for one year. Not a good experience overall for a variety of reasons. Among them, this presenter insisted that offering a gift card to a local restaurant would be necessary to draw people. This really drove up the cost, was not deducted as a cost of hosting the seminars and drew too many people who politely sat thru the presention, grabbed their card and lit out.
We have used Partners Program now for 2 years with greater success. The second year we changed the credit card auto payment to an ACH auto payment because the 20% paid the local salesperson, 15% paid Partners, contract discounts AND CC processing fees were a lot. Our bank does not charge a per-transaction fee for ACH as the credit cards do. Clients are fine with that - the amount is a fixed amount each month so they know exactly what amount is coming out and when each month.
A few things to be aware of from our experience with these programs:
1. involvement of salespeople in compiling mailing lists, making and confirming appointment times for the presentations and prep for the presentation takes them off the street for 2 weeks. This is a big bite on regular billing. The presenter, in town for most of this, is fine with monopolizing salespeople time 8a-5p for 2 solid weeks. We have found that blocking out a couple of afternoons or mornings each week or certain hours each day for salespeople to take care of their business minimizes the damage.
2. It is perhaps endemic that the presenter, who sits with individual salespeople and clients after the presentation to assist with closings, will go off the reservation to make the sale. This happened with both programs we have worked with. Remember that the contract reflects a discounted discount with the ACH/CC discount thrown in yet the presenter, anxious to close as many contracts as possible before leaving town, will cut a deal - same 12-mo rate and discounts for 6 or 9 months, cancellable after 3 months if you're not happy, out of market production free to the client/at cost to the station (some of the value of the presenter is production or campaign ideas he/she brings from other markets they have been in and they will play that production as a tool to close - that's fine only we will handle the production, please!). Be VERY clear with the presenter what the parameters are ahead of time so this stuff does not unfold in front of clients.
3. Be careful who you invite and what you sell them as an annual! You may have clients now who pretty much run monthly and then can be upsold to be in sports, a bridal show, a Halloween or Christmas package - that kind of thing. Everything sold to them now you pay a salesperson 15-20% for a direct sale. What you DON'T want to do is convert someone like that to a Partners or Advantage or other program plan on which 30% commission is now paid on a discounted rate for roughly the same annual money or less. These programs can put a 1-station buyer on 3-stations a month instead. They can also eat up the entire budget station commitment of a client so they no longer buy into the 'extra' packages, campaigns and promotions. The programs are particularly ideal for bringing people into radio for the first time - it manages their expectations and the way they understand to best use radio for maximum effectiveness. This has happened with the medical category and Partners in our market. Just be careful that contracts do not put you backwards with any of your clients.
We are happy that we made the decision to do this type of program and that we switched to Partners. Salespeople hate the prep on the presentations but love going into each month with $$$ pre-sold on the books and they take good care of these clients. From the management perspective, this program has leveled the otherwise roller coaster billing that can happen and gives salespeople the time and opportunity to build billing and relationships with new clients.
Anna,
In addition to Diane's comments, we are on our 3rd year doing advantage and we have had much success with the program. It's designed for small to medium sized businesses who don't have a large amount of money to spend. It offers them the frequency and consistency to create top-of-mind awareness so that they see the same results from their radio campaign as the larger advertisers. We offer rates that are 60% off our rate card in exchange for a 12 month committment. It is the same amount every month so it allows them to budget. We have 3 differnt plans to fit their budget. The kicker is they don't get to choose when the spots air. 50% are guaranteed in prime time and the other 50% run from 6am - 12am.
I have had great success with this program, but I understand the work that goes into making it successful. It's a numbers game. You have to call a lot of people to get them to agree to come to a session and then know that only a certain percentage will show up and only a certain percentage of those people will buy. But, hey, that's sales anyway. I encourage you, or your manager to look into this program. Our presenter is Speed Mariott from kansas City. He is wonderful and can answer your questions and give you more information.
Thanks for asking and have a wonderful day! Kellie
